Sampras toppled by Safin

RUSSIA'S Marat Safin outlasted second seed Pete Sampras in a third-set tie-breaker in Toronto to oust the American and reach the semi-finals of the Tennis Masters Series.

12:00AM BST 06 Jul 2000

RUSSIA'S Marat Safin outlasted second seed Pete Sampras in a third-set tie-breaker in Toronto to oust the American and reach the semi-finals of the Tennis Masters Series.

Sampras had to win this US Open hardcourt tune-up to overtake Brazil's Gustavo Kuerten to claim the lead in the ATP Champions' Race, but eighth seed Safin ended that possibility with a 6-4, 3-6, 7-6 (10-8) triumph.

Sampras, 28, has won a record 11 Tennis Masters Series titles, including this year in Miami, but has never won the Toronto title. In his only previous meeting with Safin, Sampras won 6-4, 6-3, 6-2, in the fourth round of the 1998 US Open.

One of Tauziat's claims was that tournament organisers had a commitment list of the 20 most marketable players in women's tennis, and those higher on the list received bonuses ahead of higher-ranked players.

Tauziat, 32, specifically mentioned Kournikova, claiming that "aesthetics and charisma are winning out over sporting performance at the box office", and nothing would change the situation "as long as the box office puts Kournikova ahead of Lindsay Davenport only because she is prettier".

After her win, Kournikova had the ultimate rebuttal, saying: "I won. Why shouldn't I get attention?"

Yesterday, Kournikova was playing in her fifth semi-final of the season when she faced fourth seed Monica Seles, of the United States, who rallied for a 4-6, 6-2, 7-6 (7-5) victory over eighth-seeded Sandrine Testud, of France.